Southborough Affordable Housing Trust reviews 55+ bylaw, funding options and enters executive session on property acquisition

The Town of Southborough Affordable Housing Trust on July 20, 2026 approved its minutes, confirmed its representative to the Community Preservation Committee and spent the bulk of the meeting discussing bylaw changes for 55+ housing and options for technical assistance and local financing before voting to go into executive session to discuss a potential property acquisition.

The meeting opened at 7:05 a.m. and, after a brief roll call to confirm quorum, the Trust voted unanimously to approve four sets of minutes — including retention of the cited executive-session minutes. The Chair then opened nominations for the Trust’s representative to the Community Preservation Committee; Ellen Maria said she was willing to continue in that role and the Trust voted, by roll call, to confirm the representative. The Chair congratulated Ellen Maria after the vote.

Why it matters: Trust members said removing an out-of-date cap on 55+ housing could clear a regulatory barrier to developing age-restricted units and invited closer review with planning-board members to keep the change narrow and targeted. “This was one of the pieces that came up during the housing production plan developments ... to remove this cap that’s currently in our bylaw on 55 plus housing,” Ellen Maria said, describing a draft revision she and a colleague had exchanged with the Planning Board that would focus on deleting the cap while clarifying definitions such as what counts as “affordable” and who qualifies as “55 plus.”

The Trust discussed two main technical-assistance routes for next steps: the MassHousing Partnership (MHP) Mini Boost and a more intensive technical-assistance program. Meeting participants referenced the Mini Boost public page as describing assistance “up to $2,000” but also read application text indicating the program can provide “up to $5,000,” and agreed a small grant or consultant could fund board training, strategy development or initial parcel prioritization. The Chair volunteered to pursue one TA track and a separate member agreed to pursue financing-focused assistance.

Members also examined potential parcel opportunities in the Dell/EMC area and noted past mapping work from a resident, including possible property- or road-exchange leverage tied to Dell’s holdings. Trust members agreed it would be useful to inventory town-owned parcels from the assessor database and to follow up with private-holding inquiries where legal or open-space constraints might allow acquisition or partnership.

On funding approaches, a member proposed exploring a real estate transfer fee similar to bills in other Massachusetts communities — for example, a 0.5% fee on sales above $1,000,000 — pursued either through a special-act bill at the legislature or local action if state law allowed it. That member said putting a measure in the legislative pipeline could position Southborough to act quickly if the statewide tenor shifted. “It’s 0.5 percent fee on a real estate transaction,” the member said when describing the concept.

Trust members emphasized community engagement as essential before pursuing any contentious measures. They discussed using the town’s municipal survey and regional partners to solicit resident input and flagged the MetroWest/MAPC regional collaborative resources as possible amplification points. Ellen Maria also updated the Trust on the CHAPA Housing Leadership Academy, a six‑month program for municipal officials; she said she could use that program to develop a project related to the Trust’s objectives.

Formal action late in the agenda: the Chair moved to enter executive session under MGL Chapter 30A, Section 21 (exemption 6) to discuss a potential property acquisition and said that an open discussion could be detrimental to the Town’s negotiating position. The motion passed on roll call and the Trust entered executive session.

What’s next: Members assigned follow-up tasks — pursuing MHP/MAPC technical assistance applications, pulling a parcel list from the assessor, and coordinating outreach through the Select Board and regional partners — and agreed to report progress at a future meeting. The meeting moved into executive session to continue a confidential property-acquisition discussion.